​Please let me be clear, I know its hard to hear each other in here sometimes. I am unfortunately not a pious creature. I am sometimes hot with anger and even fury. I struggle to remain peaceful amidst such injustice. There is a voice inside me that reminds me every day that the opioid crisis took down a large part of my family. And I do want to make one thing clear: I am not here to talk about compassion for white working class addicts. I'm here with a vengeance against the people, corporations and politicians, who profited from killing my family. I am here with the hard reminder that addiction is, in fact, also impacting the Black, Latinx, and Native American communities, and has for decades through harsher sentences in the system of mass incarceration. I am here to remember the 130 people who will die today from overdose or narcotics-related illnesses out loud.

I'm here to make the connection between the opioid crisis,  mass incarceration, the promotion of violence in society, the availability of deadly weapons, racism, the oppression of women, the separation of humanity from the Earth, and oppression of the working class.

I wake up with a lot on my mind, but I thank God for giving me this voice. One thing is for sure. I'm going to use it. 

​​
​As an artist, an activist, and as a woman who is deeply interested in plant medicine, as one who has studied, in depth, colonial domination and its impact on women and survivors of colonialism worldwide, I fully reject any church that seeks power, money, and property over community, as they are abusers of Christ. 

I reject any person or organization that attempts to use Christ as bait to achieve greater hierarchical power and control of the masses,

for the Christ that I am aware of was a rebel, an anarchistic protester of the Roman empire, a man willing to directly confront the early bankers by literally tipping over the tables of the money lenders. Jesus Christ was against hierarchy. He wished only to be associated with the poor. He spoke to the people about loving one another, but he protested the corrupt government, and that is why they crucified him. 

As I witness the corruption in our society right now, I refuse to stay silent as the politicians and corporate thieves, both descriptors of the current President, use the name of Jesus Christ to fool the people. 

No follower of Donald Trump is a follower of Jesus Christ.

No corporate executive who hungers for money can associate themself with Jesus Christ.

Any corporation that sells semi-automatic weapons is automatically working against Christ.

Any corporation that sells massive quantities of deadly, addictive opioids is a dealer of death and destruction of the working class, not a follower of Jesus Christ.

In the media, we often hear of "Christian Conservatives". I have yet to meet a conservative who was a follower of Christ, for Christ was about non-judgement, giving rather than hoarding, loving and community building among the people, not building hierarchical power and protecting murderers in the name of nationalism and personal gain.

In the name of my fallen family, in the name of all victims of gun violence and opioid death or mass incarceration, and in the name of the fallen Christ, do not call me a Christian. But call me any time if you want to feed people, love children, love one another, protest, and act in courage and resistance. I'll be right here.

Photo by Kay Boyd
Floral design by Susan Anglada Bartley